Free Mobile Broadcasting Available Nationwide
By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter
Korea's free cell phone-based video services, called the terrestrial digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB), will expand its service area to across the country this week.
The Special Committee for Korean Terrestrial DMB said Monday that KBS, one of the country's major TV networks, plans to launch nationwide terrestrial DMB services.
``Thus far, terrestrial DMB services have been available only in Seoul and its vicinity,'' said Kim Hyuk, an official at the private institute.
``Beginning Aug. 1, however, folks in other places will be able to watch terrestrial DMB programs of KBS,'' he said.
MBC, another major TV station, also plans to follow up late August by providing services to such places as Busan, Daejeon, Gwangju and Jeju.
Terrestrial DMB, which brings seamless video and theater-quality audio to mobile terminals or in-automobile devices, debuted here in late 2005 for the first time in the world.
Yet, the coverage of the video-on-the-go offerings has been limited to Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi Province.
As a result, residents in other regions could not enjoy terrestrial DMB even if they purchased expensive handsets or in-car terminals that embrace the mobility-specific applications.
``By this Nov., all six broadcasters will launch nationwide terrestrial DMB services with six video channels. Then, the user pool is likely to explode,'' Kim said.
Since its premiere in Dec. 2005, more than 6 million have snapped up terrestrial DMB-enabled devices and Kim projected the number would top 10 million late this year.
The hitch is that terrestrial DMB broadcasters fail to make money despite the mounting number of subscribers due to the lack of the business model.
``As you know, terrestrial DMB is free of charge and we have no other choice but to depend on TV commercials for earnings,'' Kim said.
``But marketers are reluctant to put advertisements on DMB. Even though the user pool surpasses the 10 million mark, things are not likely to change,'' he said.
In this climate, the government has tried to boost terrestrial DMB by coming up with various measures to generate revenue streams for the go-anywhere broadcasting.
Included in the measures are plans to phase in new types of advertisements specific to DMB services but such efforts have yet to create tangible results.